Every new or revised mechanic is bound to stir up dissent, but some fundamental changes ended up being at odds with the how the series’ player base expected to play their game.
#Civ 5 multiplayer upgrade
The idea of paying four times for something that was seen as a mild upgrade at best was daunting, and many veteran players who had already forked out a lot of cash on Civ V were reticent to spend money on what could be considered a downgrade.Ĭhange itself was also the issue. After the game launched and was found wanting, the world was faced with the option of getting the brand-new Civilization VI for £40, or the vast, excellent, and battle-tested Civilization V with all of its DLC and updates for £10. The price was and still is the biggest obstacle to Civilization VI’s appeal. The end result was a prettier game complete with a new district system and a fully baked-in religious system straight out of the box, but which still came up short in the face of Civ V and its expansions. While the game itself was in a better state content-wise at launch than Civ V was, the game changed or removed many features - like the United Nations or proper trade systems - that were fully integrated into the previous game. Unlike Civilization V, which drastically changed the formula and map of the game world of its predecessors, Civilization VI was more of a tweak of the same formula. but which still came up short of Civ 5 and its expansions.
#Civ 5 multiplayer series
So what gave Civilization V such long-lasting appeal in the first place? First, a little bit of history. Sid Meier’s Civilization V - the fifth entry in the legendary strategy series created by Sid Meier - came out in September 2010 to universal critical acclaim. While Civ VI is now comfortably beating Civ V's player numbers, it took a while to achieve. Even today it brings in an average of 15,000 players, peaking at 23,000. Even after the release of both major DLCs, the fifth Civilization game was still holding strong for two years into Civ VI's life cycle. Newer strategy games dethroning predecessors is in most cases inevitable, but in Civilization’s case the timeline took slightly longer than predicted. After several years of 'will they, won’t they?' Civilization V and Civilization VI finally switched places on Steam’s 'most played games' list in 2019. After a slightly underwhelming launch and a small controversy over the price of expansions, the newest release in Sid Meier’s leading 4X game series has finally surpassed the previous entry by a decisive margin.